Contradictory Kaepernick

America is a free country because of the men and women who fought and continue to fight for our freedom.  That means that Colin Kaepernick is free to sit down during the National Anthem in protest if he wishes.  It is perfectly legal, it is a way to peacefully protest, and the NFL was right to not punish him.  Yes, it could be viewed as a sign of disrespect for America and for Veterans.  But, quite honestly, most Veterans I know are pretty tough and can handle it just fine.  They know what real trauma is.  They're not like students at Emory University who are emotionally traumatized by sidewalk chalk that says "Trump 2016."  That being said, I take issue with his decision to do so for different reasons than most others.

The first reason is that I do not understand the premise of his statement about why he chose to sit.  He says it's because he "will not stand to show pride in a country that oppresses black people and people of color" and that "There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."  Alright, if that's true, I can understand that, but I'm not quite sure specifically what he is referring to here.  While there are places in the country where some people do indeed oppress black people and people of color, the country itself does not.  Our leader, the most powerful person in the world, is half African-American, like Colin.  There are many others in power who are people of color as well.  We've come a long way as a nation, and we still have work to do for sure, but saying that this country is oppressive is a pretty general statement that does not get to the root of any problem, real or perceived.

Based on the rest of his statement though, I'm thinking he was mostly referring to police killing black people, but again, he provided no specifics here.  When I think bodies in the street, I think of places like Chicago, but that's not what he's talking about (although that certainly is a real problem).  He's talking about police officers getting paid leave after murdering black people.  Sure, there are some bad cops and a few pretty disturbing examples of them murdering people every year, but police officers generally do not murder people because they are racists, and the rate at which they kill people of color is actually not alarming when you look at the statistics (I've gone over that previously here, so no need to do so again).  So I honestly don't know what reality Kaepernick's statement is based on, or if it's just based on his perception, perhaps influenced highly by mainstream media.

My second issue with Kaepernick is that I question his motivation.  Why now?  Why in the preseason, when no one is paying much attention to football yet, at the start of the sixth year of his NFL career?  Maybe he's truly doing it for the reasons he says, but maybe there are other factors as well.  Somehow, he got replaced as the starting QB last year by Blaine Gabbert, who's basically the second coming of Rex Grossman.  He may very well be cut from the team.  His statistics last year were lousy.  Does he want attention?  Does he want something to blame if he gets cut, apart from his own poor performance on the field?  I don't know.  It's speculation.  But the timing on this is odd.  Kaepernick makes $19 million per year to suck this badly at football.  He's not exactly oppressed himself.  His black father left him and his white mother before he was born, and his mother put him up for adoption, so he was actually adopted and raised by two white parents.  If he was white, he would fit the definition of white privilege.  But he isn't.  Yet, because he is a famous athlete, he has a platform, and people listen to what he has to say.

That brings me to my third issue.  If he wants to use his platform to make a statement and raise awareness, why not do it right?  You know how every now and then, Donald Trump says something so absurd that you wonder if the article you're reading is satire (but it's not)?  That same thing happened when I read an article saying that Colin wore a shirt with Fidel Castro on it during a press conference this week.  The shirt had Malcolm X and Fidel Castro on it and a caption that said, "Like Minds Think Alike."  Fidel Castro, of course, is the former leader of Cuba who personifies oppression.  Is Kaepernick really that ignorant of recent history?  I mean, really, are you joking?  How can you have any credibility on the topic of oppression when you are touting Fidel Castro (which I'm assuming he was doing while wearing that shirt, because I can't imagine he was making a statement against Malcolm X)?

Here's what you can do, Colin, if you really want to make America a better place for blacks, people of color, and everyone in general.  First, call out issues specifically, instead of making vague, general statements that anger the easily-angered and baffle the critical thinkers (although you became a cult hero to mindless liberals at least, so there's that).  Then, present some solutions.  Maybe one solution will be to start a charity.  I imagine you must do some charity work, but being on the East Coast, I'm not familiar with it.  Take a page out of Derek Jeter's book.  Jeter started the Turn 2 Foundation, which is a wonderful charity that helps children and teenagers avoid drugs and adopt healthier lifestyles.  Speaking of Derek Jeter, he's half African-American too.  Like you, his dad is black and his mom is white.  I can't imagine Derek Jeter ever choosing to sit down during the National Anthem though.  But if he did, you can be damn sure that I would listen to every thoughtful word he would have to say about why he chose to do it.  You see, Jeter has earned my respect and the respect of many others.  He respects this country, its veterans, police officers, and the game he played at a high level for so long.  He practices what he preaches and is very involved in helping the community.  You haven't earned my respect, Colin.  I don't know what or who you respect.  Your admiration for Fidel Castro confuses me as much as your vague accusatory statements.  I don't know what you're doing for the community.  You played well at the start of your career, signed a big contract, and tanked.  Every time I've seen you throw a Touchdown pass, I've seen you showboat and bring attention to yourself.  You threw six touchdowns last year in nine games.  Is this all about you wanting to be relevant again, or do you really want to see positive change?  If it's the latter, then be a part of that positive change.  You have our attention.  Now what?  You can keep sitting there, or you can get up and do something!

Thunder Rod

I just spent two minutes debating whether I should title this post "Thunder Rod" or "Lightning Rod."  Thunder Rod seems to be the better fit, because it has the Thunder Road connotation, perhaps the Thunder Mountain connection for a roller coaster of a career, and there was literally Thunderous applause for A-Rod the other night (I'll get to that story shortly).  But Alex Rodriguez was a Lightning Rod for much of his career as a Yankee, perhaps more than any other before him, including the straw that stirred the drink, Reggie Jackson himself.

Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1993 with the first pick of the draft.  He got his first taste of Major League playing time as an 18-year-old in 1994.  For years, he was one of the best shortstops in the league, and he signed a monster deal to play for the Texas Rangers in 2001.  With so much money invested in A-Rod, the Rangers sucked and did not make the playoffs in 2001, 2002, or 2003.  Meanwhile in the Bronx, Aaron Boone's epic Home Run against the Red Sox sent the Yankees to the World Series in 2003.  They lost the World Series that year, and then Boone hurt himself during the off-season, and the Yankees needed a third baseman.  So, before the 2004 season began, the Yankees traded away Alfonso Soriano, Joaquin Arias, and cash to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Alex Rodriguez and his massive contract.  With Derek Jeter entrenched at Shortstop, Rodriguez was signed to play at the hot corner.

In 2004, the Yankees blew a 3-0 series lead in the ALCS to the Red Sox, who went on to win the World Series for the first time since 1918, breaking the Curse of the Bambino.  In 2005, Alex Rodriguez was the AL MVP.  In 2007, Alex Rodriguez was the AL MVP, with 54 Home Runs and a career-high 156 RBI.  The Red Sox won the World Series again.  A-Rod opted out of his contract.  The Yankees re-signed him to another 10-year deal, worth even more money than the one he had just opted out of.  The Yankees failed to make the playoffs in 2008, their final year in the old Yankee Stadium.  Alex Rodriguez, known to have used steroids, though admitting that it was only when he played with the Rangers, was naturally the lightning rod for many of the problems that the Yankees had.  He was paid an absurd amount of money, he was a known PED-user, his playoff numbers with the Yankees had not been up to expectations, and he was known to be kind of a narcissistic asshole.  He divorced his wife in 2008, the same year they had their second daughter together.

But in 2009, redemption came at last.  Everything went right for a year.  Rodriguez had his 12th of 13 consecutive seasons with at least 30 HR and 100 RBI, led the Yankees into the playoffs, and hit 6 Home Runs during the playoffs, driving in 6 runs in each series, and the Yankees were World Series Champions again, for the first time since 2000, and during their first year in the new Yankee Stadium!  A-Rod still wasn't in the same category as other Yankees greats like Jeter and Mariano Rivera, but Yankee fans embraced him and loved him still.

But A-Rod never hit another playoff home run, nor did he do much of anything else positive in the playoffs, and he ended up getting hit with a huge suspension for using PEDs while he was with the Yankees, which caused him to miss the entire 2014 season, losing tens of millions of dollars in the process.  A-Rod had lied to the Yankees, the fans, and tried to sue everyone under the baseball sun.  But then he came to his senses, dropped the lawsuits, and quietly prepared for 2015.

And for A-Rod, 2015 was another redemption year.  Alex played the game right.  He went about his business on the field, and wasn't a distraction to the team on or off the field.  Improbably, he hit 33 Home Runs and had 86 RBI, serving largely as the team's Designated Hitter.  But he was a target once again, A-lightning-Rod.  Opposing pitchers sometimes decided that they wanted to hit him.  His manager and teammates defended him, as did the Yankee fans, who began to love him again.  Alex turned 40 during the season, and the Yankees got knocked out of the playoffs in the Wild Card game.  And in 2016, A-Rod's statistics took a nosedive.  The Yankees decided to become sellers at the trading deadline, re-stocking their farm system, getting younger instead of older.  Playing time for Alex dried up, and the Yankees talked with him and decided it was time to release him, but keep him around as a special adviser to help mentor the younger players in the farm system.  And so it was announced that Alex Rodriguez was slated to play his final game for the Yankees on August 12.

Yankee Stadium was buzzing, and there was a ceremony to honor A-Rod before the game.  The clouds rolled in.  I told my friend Chris who I went to the game with that Reggie would probably be there with A-Rod.  He was.  Then I told him that it would probably rain on his ceremony.  It did.  Dark clouds rolled over Yankee Stadium.  The ceremony began.  At one point, the announcer said, "Alex, you've spent 12 of your 22 seasons with the Yankees."  Loud thunder crashed immediately, as if on cue.  Wow.  Well-timed, God.  Nah, God could do better.  The ceremony continued.  Swirling rain rolled in.  Then the announcer said, "Ladies and gentleman, let's have one more Yankee Stadium ovation for Alex Rodriguez..."  Possibly the loudest thunder that I've ever heard interrupted the announcer's sentence at that point.  Maybe God is a baseball fan.  Chris and I looked at each other in awe.  We were sitting in the first row of the main level down the left field line, and at that moment it really started to pour, so we walked back up to the concessions area.

The rain soon stopped and the game was underway by 8.  A-Rod had an RBI double to tie the game at 1 in his first at-bat (causing an F-Bomb from A-Rod if you watch the replay), and the Yankees ultimately won 6-3.  The fans, myself included, were chanting for A-Rod the entire game, especially right before he came out to play third base in the bottom of the ninth, and then after he was removed from the game for the final time one out later.  And then after the game, as A-Rod got some dirt from the third base area and acknowledged the fans.  There he was, tipping his hat to the crowd.  A man who hit 696 Home Runs, drove in 2,086 runs, scored 2,021 runs, stole 329 bases, recorded 3,115 hits, won 3 AL MVP awards, and, most importantly, won one World Series.

It's possible that Alex will play baseball again, but he may not.  Either way, five years after he hangs up his cleats for good, he will be on the ballot for entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  But will he get in?  Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire have not been able to muster up many Hall of Fame votes, despite great career numbers.  The steroids and the lies haunt them.  Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds have mustered up some support, but are still far from getting the call from Cooperstown.  Same reasons.  Roger won an insane 7 Cy Young awards!  He was among the handful of the best pitchers to ever play the game.  Bonds won an insane 7 MVP awards!  He was one of the few best hitters of all-time.  A true five-tool player, he hit more Home Runs than anyone ever did, in a season and a career, he stole 500 bases, and his numbers from 2001-2004 are mind-boggling.  How the hell do you play the whole season and have a .609 On-base percentage like he did in 2004?  That's more ridiculous than his 73 Home Runs in 2001!

If I could cast a vote for the Hall of Fame, I would vote for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez.  I would vote for David Ortiz too, five years from now.  I'd even vote for Palmeiro, Sosa, and McGwire.  Andy Pettitte and Manny Ramirez eventually too.  These are the guys I grew up watching.  They were the best in the game.  I get it.  They messed up.  They used banned substances.  Pettitte came clean right away, saying he used HGH back in 2002 to help accelerate his return from an injury, and Yankees fans immediately absolved him of his sins.  Some haven't admitted it.  A-Rod has admitted it, although it took him a very long time to finally do so, but he did, and he apologized.  Speaking of eventual apologies, I think Pete Rose should be in too.  He never did steroids, but who cares that he bet in favor of his own team?  Really, the guy had more hits than anyone who ever played the game, and he played the game the right way.  Yeah, he was a flawed liar and kind of an asshole, like Bonds, like Clemens, like A-Rod, but he was one heck of a baseball player.

The truth is that we don't know who used performance-enhancing drugs during the steroid era, before the bans and testing expanded.  It could have been anyone (not Jeter or Cal Ripken, but, you know, almost anyone).  There are rumors that Mike Piazza, and potentially others who are already in the Hall of Fame like he is, were users.  Maybe what it will take to bust open that door is confirmation that there are already Hall-of-Famers who used performance-enhancing drugs.  Then what do you do?  You can't kick them out.  You have to let their peers in if they put up numbers that are worthy of induction.  And as for A-Rod, it has been one heck of a roller-coaster ride of a career.  Like most Yankees fans, I've booed him and I've cheered him, but it has truly been a pleasure to watch him play.  Love him or hate him, or love him AND hate him, he is one of the greats.  Thank you, A-Rod!

Left Nut, Right Nut, JOHNSON!

I like to think that I'm a sane person.  And no sane person can vote for a third party candidate for President of the United States, right?  You're basically just throwing your vote away.  It's nearly as insane as not voting at all. But then, no sane person can vote for Hillary.  And no sane person can vote for Trump.  ...Wait...  Well, shit, we have a problem.  I guess we're all insane.  Maybe the only person who can bring sanity to this country again is a little bit insane.  Maybe he wants a small government, maybe he's smoked pot, maybe he's not a Liberal or a Conservative, maybe he has a last name that's easy to poke fun of, and maybe he thinks for himself.  But what we have here is a nut on the left, a nut on the right, and a Johnson in the middle.  A Johnson-Weld for that matter, which is even stronger than just a Johnson, and Johnson alone is pretty strong, having climbed the highest peak on all seven continents!  Well, here it goes...
I formally endorse Gary Johnson for the Office of President of the United States, and I encourage others to educate yourselves on him further. If he sounds better than the two terrible candidates that the Democrats and Republicans have nominated, please voice your support for him, especially if you are polled, because he only gets into the National Debates if he is polling at least 15%.   Also, whether or not you support him, please sign this petition to get his voice heard in the debates (https://www.johnsonweld.com/debate?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=wall&utm_term=fans&utm_content=debate-01&utm_campaign=debate).  If nothing else, his presence will bring some substance to what promises to be a series of ugly, mudslinging debates.  Also, this quiz (http://www.isidewith.com/elections/2016-presidential-quiz) is worthwhile to take if you're interested in the issues too.  Not only do I dislike Hillary and Trump, but I actually agree with Gary Johnson A LOT more than any of the other candidates.  I am largely Libertarian.  And you might be too.  You see, Libertarian is a spectrum.  Everyone is at least a little bit Libertarian.  Does that mean you'll agree with everything Gary "Three-Run" Johnson has to say?  No.  Actually, I strongly disagree with him on abortion, but not much else.  But that's me.
Johnson is in favor of marijuana legalization, gay marriage, environmental protection, criminal justice reform, and abortion.  But he is also fiscally conservative, in favor of lowering taxes and creating jobs, supports the Second Amendment, and is against Common Core.  He supports congressional term limits too, as should everyone.  Just about the only thing with a lower approval rating than Congress lately is HIV, and with the success of another (Magic) Johnson, it's actually pretty close...
How did I get here?  How can I be supporting a pro-choice candidate and a third-party candidate at the same time?  Well, let me tell you, it's been quite the journey.  The candidates that I liked the least for each major party got the nominations (It wasn't close with Hillary, but I couldn't decide whether Trump, Cruz, or Bush was worse for the bulk of the primaries).  Once that happened, I naturally gravitated toward Trump, because I figured he could easily turn it around, stop saying ignorant shit, and become Presidential, and I have a lot of well-documented problems with Hillary (see a good portion of my previous posts, there's no need to re-hash the many reasons why she's unfit to be Commander-in-Chief).  So I found myself in the same place as many Americans, trying to choose the lesser of two evils.  With Hillary, there's the devil we know (even if she still lies about all her obvious wrongs), and with Trump, it's the devil we don't know, politically anyway.  The main positive I was clinging to with Trump was that he would probably nominate solid Conservative SCOTUS justices who adhere to the Constitution.  I knew he said a lot of terrible things, and I knew he changed his positions daily on some issues, but I also knew I could never vote for Hillary.  And I still never will.  But something changed when I listened to his acceptance speech (I still haven't bothered to listen to Hillary's by the way--I already know who she is).  Donald Trump's speech scared me, and it wasn't because he was trying to scare everyone into thinking that we would all be killed by ISIS and immigrants if he wasn't elected, he alone who could fix America.  It scared me because of the rhetoric he used and the fear he appealed to.  But when you put it together with everything else he's said, it paints an even uglier picture.  The devil we don't know may very well be a dangerously loose cannon.
An old friend of mine messaged me on Facebook when he suspected that I was close to officially endorsing Trump, and he presented some very good information that he was using to explain why he was voting for Hillary, even though he doesn't particularly like her (I'm putting that mildly to avoid using certain words here).  And while I still can't bring myself to vote for Hillary, I will acknowledge that a Hillary presidency probably wouldn't look a whole lot different from an Obama presidency, but it would have costly long-term negative impacts on the country via the Supreme Court nominees, an assault on the second amendment, and having someone in the most powerful office who shouldn't even have a basic security clearance.  I don't think Obama OR Bush were good presidents, but Hillary would be worse, and Trump is basically the embodiment of a parody accidentally set free in real life.  While my friend did not convince me to vote for Hillary, and I probably didn't convince him not to (although we both agreed that Hillary should have stepped down after Benghazi, if only because she was Secretary of State and her Department screwed up big-time), he did help me accelerate the course I was already on, a desperate search for any hope of a third option, and I decided to become a firm Johnson supporter (I'm aware of how that sounds, yes).
The folks comparing Trump to Hitler need to shut up though.  He's not Hitler.  He's not going to try to exterminate any group of people, and certainly not the Jews (you people focusing on the alleged Jewish star he posted are all idiots, he's not anti-Semitic).  The Muslims?  Well, he's talked about attempting to keep new ones from entering the country temporarily, or at least stopping immigration from certain countries, but please don't compare him to Hitler, because that's an overreaction that will and should be written off.  Hitler killed people who didn't look a certain way.  Trump just wants to keep people who look a certain way from crossing the border.  There's a big difference there.  So if you're calling out Donald Trump, for the sake of an intelligent discussion, please at least call out the actual issues with Donald Trump, and there are many of them.
My friend calls him a Fascist.  I call him a Democratic Fascist because it sounds funnier.  Why?  I mean, really, the shit that comes out of his mouth just doesn't stop, and it occurs on a daily basis.  Ted Cruz AND Barack Obama were right on something.  That's not something you can say every day (this is the only time I can think of that I've ever said that, in fact).  Cruz refused to endorse Trump, as I have, because his conscience wouldn't let him.  I respect that.  And Obama said that Trump is unfit to be President, because at some point, enough is enough.  I mean, really, how many times do Republicans have to distance themselves from things that Trump says?  He is out of control.  Him taking the bait and making questionable comments about the Muslim family whose son gave his life fighting for this country isn't even an issue compared to the other stuff he's said.  The Russia hacking thing was a joke, so calm down on that.  It's harmless.  But the stuff about torture, things that make you wonder how he feels about the first amendment, things that worry me that he's more of a war-hawk than Killary, suggesting violating treaties, encouraging violence...  It's a long list.  Oh Long Johnson.
I'll watch the debates regardless.  The SNL skits will write themselves.  But I'm calling on all Internet users, all politicians, all  celebrities, and all major publications to endorse and not ignore Gary Johnson if you think he is the best candidate.  And if you don't think he's the best candidate, please ask yourself why.  He's running against an untrustworthy, power-hungry, extremely careless criminal on the left side and an unpredictable, power-hungry, inciter of fear who keeps saying things that make us all wonder whether he understands the constitution on the right side.  America is fractured because of the left nut and the right nut, so help JOHNSON-WELD America together again!

[Is that good?  On the off chance that Gary Johnson somehow reads this post, whether or not he is partaking in weed at the time, I consent to him using that slogan if he would like to.]